Posted by Frank Dugan on November 13, 2001 at 09:41:58:
In Reply to: Abcess posted by Janie on November 12, 2001 at 14:56:22:
: I have a quarter horse show hunter with under-run heels. My farrier had been using shocktamer rim pads with some success, but he suggested trying Equi-build to try to get some heel growth. We went one shoeing with Equi-build, then one with Equi-pad (due to my farrier being out of town and the pinch-hitter preferring Equi-pad). After being shod, about 6 weeks ago, my horse came up with an abcess in the left front, the day after the shoeing. I attributed this to a stone bruise since he had lost the shoe in a rocky pasture. The abcess was cleared up and a shoe with Equi-build put on with no adverse affects. The horse was re-shod last Wednesday night, with Equi-Build, and came up dead lame on Saturday morning, right front this time. My farrier pulled the shoe today (Monday) and found another abcess. This one was near the medial heel, which is the one he breaks down the worst. Have you experienced this problem with your product in the past? My farrier has been pleased with the results, particularly on the left front, which is actually the better foot, and he said there was some improvement on the right also. I'd like to use the Equi-build for another shoeing to see if the heel growth continues to improve, but my farrier is concerned that the pressure from the Equi-build caused the abcess. This horse is quite big so there is a lot of weight on his feet. Any advice would be appreciated. (Hope this wasn't too lengthy.) Thanks
Hi Janie, You've posted a very good question .
I'm glad the Build and Pak have helped your hunter grow some foot and think we know what has caused the abcess situation.
We have run into this just a few times and every time it has occurred, upon very close examination of the solar surface, the farriers have found that the bars were left too high, or most likely, the bars have rolled over flat and actually appear like normal sole. In this situation, the laminae of the bars are horizontal instead of vertical.
When the materials are poured in, they create pressure in the bar area and an abcess may result.
Talking with several farriers who are familiar with this, they recommend trimming the bars until they are vertical and NOT pouring in anything until the bars are where they should be. After that, the Build or Pak will not present a "pressure" problem.
Hope this helps. If you have any questions, please contact us.
Sincerely,
Frank Dugan
Vettec, Inc.